No deflating Brunswick centenarian’s pride in Patriots

BRUNSWICK — Some people care about the New England Patriots’ “Deflategate” scandal.

Goldie Singer does not.

Tom Brady “can do no wrong,” she said Wednesday at the Mere Point Long Term Care Community, where Singer will turn 100 April 6.

She lived in the same house on Federal Street for 94 years before moving to an independent living facility in 2010. For about half of that time, since they were formed in 1959, she has been watching the Patriots.

Singer’s niece, Judy Kamin, remembers that visits to the family home on Federal Street could be a little rough after a Patriots loss.

“She’d be fuming,” Kamin said Wednesday. “She was like a coach – just so disgusted with the way they played.”

But frustration is only one aspect of more than half a century of devoted fandom. In Singer’s assisted living home, she takes her dinner in her room during Patriots games, to make sure she doesn’t miss a single minute.

And then there was the surprise present from the Pats.

In response to a letter from the husband of her great-niece, the organization sent Singer an autographed photo of quarterback Tom Brady, a handwritten birthday card, a team photograph, several banners and towels, and a jersey – No. 100, of course – with “Goldie” written across the back.

“I’m famous overnight,” Singer said.

Kamin said her aunt’s steadfast attitude shows in other aspects of her life besides the Patriots.

She lived at 5 Federal St., where she was born, until 2010, when the big, old staircase between the first and second floors began to be too much for Singer to climb.

Growing up, her family kept a cow in the backyard. Singer remembers her father going out to the chicken coop to smoke cigarettes because her mother “couldn’t stand the smoke.”

Singer spent most of her career working at Bowdoin College, where she was the head of the payroll department. She biked up Federal Street to work every day.

She said she never took a pill until she was into her 90s.

“It’s true,” her niece said Wednesday. “Not even a baby aspirin.”

Singer said Brunswick has changed a lot over the years – the old Pastime and Cumberland movie theaters are gone, the dry goods and clothing stores have closed, and there are “a lot more cars.”

But watching the Patriots, “that never changes,” she said.

Singer’s family will be gathering in Brunswick Saturday, April 2, for a party ahead of “Aunt Goldie’s” April 6 birthday. Old friends, and nieces and nephews from New York to Minnesota, will celebrate Singer’s birthday at Mere Point.

Singer said she’s getting her nails done Thursday, and knows what she’s going to wear Saturday: her Patriots jersey.

Goldie Singer, of Brunswick, will turn 100 on April 6. In honor of her birthday, the New England Patriots sent her a jersey with her name and number.

Along with a jersey, the Patriots sent Goldie Singer of Brunswick an autographed photo of quarterback Tom Brady, a handwritten note and other memorabilia to help Singer celebrate her 100th birthday April 6.

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Brunswick/Harpswell reporter for The Forecaster. Bowdoin College grad, San Francisco Bay Area native. Follow for municipal, school, community, and environmental news from the Midcoast.